Perfection
by K. Leigh Anne
Summary: It's years after WWIII. A young girl named Olivia Lockett is confused but determined to discover the many surrounding secrets as to why she and the remaining survivors and the readied army are stuck underground. Will she ever find out what the world had resorted to?


Olivia stared out of the crack in between the door and the door frame, her emerald eyes darkened with interest and her brows brought down into a V shape in concentration. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. And it was all so confusing.

"The English will be here at dawn, 0900 hours sharp." said a tall man in a dark navy blue military uniform. He looked important.  
"That family, I presume?" said another man in the same type of uniform, who was also important. He was Olivia's father. "And the federates, of course. Though I hear that family has valuable information."  
"Yes." the other answered simply.  
His conversationalist nodded sharply. "Good. I still need several guards posted by the entrance until morning, however. After what happened last time, I don't want to take any risks."  
"Yes, sir."

The taller man gave him a salute, a swift and flat hand to the forehead, and turned on his heels, heading straight to the door that Olivia was standing behind. Olivia, startled at his fast gait, was unable to make a quick getaway and was stood rigid at the open door with a soldier staring down at her. He looked much taller than he did when he was talking to her father. Olivia stared back, determined not to let his piercing blue gaze penetrate into her imaginary wall of confidence. Her father cleared his throat, and the soldier acknowledged this with a tip of his cap to Olivia before pushing past her. Olivia scowled as he bumped her shoulder, muttering a curse under her breath. Then she looked up at her father, who was giving her a similar stare.

"Olivia." he said flatly.  
"I wasn't eavesdropping." she snapped.  
"What have I told you about lying, Olivia?" her father placed a gloved hand to the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I shouldn't judge, regardless. What were you doing, if you weren't eavesdropping?"  
Olivia straightened her sleeve where the soldier had shoved past her. "I was about to knock on the door before he opened it."

Her father didn't look the slightest bit convinced.

"Honest."  
He sighed again. "Olivia, this information is not for your young ears. I've told you time and time again not to come spying on these meetings and conversations, yet you always manage to find something out."  
Olivia narrowed her eyes. "I don't _spy_!"  
He continued as if he hadn't heard her, or if he didn't want to hear her. "You're still far too young to be hearing about these things, Olivia. I don't wish for you to grow into an independent woman with a tainted mind."  
"Everyone here is crazy." Olivia snapped.  
"True as that might be to some, I still don't want you poking your nose where it is not wanted. Where did Marlin go off to?"  
"He went adventuring off somewhere and started chatting with Lieutenant Austin. I left him."  
He looked doubtful, but nodded anyway. "Fine."

Olivia puffed her cheeks out in silent frustration. She could never have a proper conversation with her father, and even if they somehow managed to do so it would be about something irrelevant to their interests. She pulled a large black clip from her sleeve cuff and attached it to her auburn hair, keeping it out of her eyes, which she hated so very much. She noticed for a split second that her father's eyes flashed briefly, but she decided she wouldn't ask why. Although, she would ask about what she had heard with the soldier, even if she wasn't meant to.

"Why are the English coming? Who are they?"

Her father seemed to reel back slightly, as if he had been punched in the stomach. Olivia didn't question his reflex, but waited for his answer. The answer which he seemed to think over very thoroughly before speaking.

"They're coming to help us. The family is a mother and her son. He's your age, a bit older."

That was all he said.

"That's not it, is it?"  
"How much have you heard, Olivia?"  
"Huh?"  
"How much have you heard? Even if I don't catch you, I know you're always eavesdropping. How much have you heard?" he repeated.  
Olivia frowned. "_I don't eavesdrop_!"  
"Stop lying."

Olivia groaned inwardly. As much as she hated losing in pretty much everything, she wouldn't win this argument, feeling like she hadn't even tried. She blew a wisp of hair out of her face that tickled her cheek, and chewed the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. How much _had_ she heard, exactly? She never actually remembered the things she had heard, and if she did it would only confuse her. She pondered over the subject for a while until her father made a noise, dragging her back into reality. She hummed slightly before answering.

"Not much," she said briskly. "Just stuff about the English and the Russians. I think Marlin told me that he once heard Lieutenant Austin speaking about some people called Koreans, too."  
"That's all?"  
"That's all." Olivia answered honestly, and her father appeared to accept and believe that. "What does it all mean?"  
"I can't tell you, Olivia."  
Her face fell instantly at his blatant refusal. "Why not?"  
"Because you're not old enough to understand." he responded as if he had planned this sentiment his entire life. He sounded so certain.  
"I'm old enough!" Olivia snapped. "I'm not a baby!"  
"Go and see Marlin. I'm sure he's waiting for you." he dismissed her.

Olivia was about to protest, but her father gave her _that_ look. _That_ look, the look that meant '_I'm tired of this debate and I don't want you here to annoy me further_'. She sensed his irritability and promptly left, huffing and puffing about not getting her way and finding out more things about these strange people called Russians and Koreans and the English. Maybe Marlin would know, and that thought was the only thing that made her hurry to get to her friend.

Olivia Lockett was a fourteen year old girl, with tanned skin and auburn hair and emerald eyes that sparkled dangerously bright. She would throw tantrums when she could not get what she wanted, and she rarely smiled or laughed. Hot-headed, ambiguous and always demanding or snappy, she was just growing into an adult. That's what her father always said, anyway, but she could never tell if he was serious, because he always said it with a wistful smile as if he was daydreaming. Olivia didn't question him. She didn't question much. If she was confused or at a loss with something, she would either listen to the people around her or leave it. She didn't like socializing, so asking around was out of the question. Olivia liked to keep things simple and plain. She didn't add sugar to everything and she certainly wasn't the sweet type, regardless of much sugar could be involved. She struggled with manners and would often end up saying the wrong thing if her temper did not get the better of her first.

She only ever wore one outfit, and would resort to sitting around with a blanket around her to keep her decent while they were being washed. It was a dark red shirt with long sleeves, which she always rolled up, under a more loose fitted top with monochrome horizontal stripes. She wore these over tattered denim shorts and black leggings, completing her look with dark brown leather boots, which were the muddiest, most battered things she had, let alone something anyone could lay eyes upon.  
Olivia despised being in the centre of attention, and hated being looked at in general. She was quiet and laid back, and preferred to keep to herself, resulting in being called things like '_hermit_' and '_loner_' by the other few children her age when they wanted to annoy her.  
She had most of her looks from her father, though he always claimed she had her mother's eyes. Olivia didn't know a lot about her mother. She died during childbirth and that was pretty much all her father had told her.

Her father was quiet and kept to himself just like his daughter, though he wore a much more serious face which was always framed by matted black hair, thick with grit yet still glossy in certain light. He always wore that navy blue uniform, like it was the only thing he had left to wear, and Olivia didn't know why. Again, her father had told her nothing of his duty or why he was so restricted from general life. He didn't even talk to Olivia much, only speaking to her to lecture her or to simply ask how she was doing and the like. Olivia hated not being able to talk to her only family member like he actually was a family member. Truth be told, the closest thing she would ever consider as such would be Marlin, her closest friend.

Marlin McDouglas was African-American, and came from a poor family. Or so Olivia had been told. Marlin had been living here his whole life, though they had only known each other for two years. Marlin had long black hair which always felt slightly wiry and always tightly fashioned into what he called '_dreadlocks_'. Olivia had never heard of the word, but always thought it suited him. When she first met him, she remembered saying he looked like he had an octopus on his head, and he just laughed. Marlin was a cheerful person, who joked around and smiled more than anyone. He seemed to embarrass himself just to get laughs and grins out of people, and Olivia's father claimed he was born to entertain. Olivia always thought Marlin was a bit silly, but he was her friend, and he was a good one. He always wore red denim dungarees over a dark green shirt, tucked into a pair of black shoes which he called '_Converse_'. Olivia hadn't heard of half the things he spoke about, and dared not to think he was smarter than her.

One of Marlin's other friends was Lieutenant Austin, or Austin J. Oscar. Austin was a man in his late twenties, who had dark brown hair which was unruly and always fell in front of his left eye. According to Marlin, Austin was blind in this left eye, though Olivia had never dared to ask him about it. His right eye was dark blue, though his left was lighter and looked more misty, and Marlin told her that this was how someone could see if he was blind. Olivia just nodded in understanding, though she didn't really understand how you could tell someone was blind by the colour of their eyes. Despite being blind in one eye, Austin was one of the best lieutenants Olivia's father had. And surprise, Olivia also didn't know what a lieutenant was, and this coincided nicely with the fact that she was never told anything about what happened.  
Austin was a charming man, who always seemed to be smiling just like Marlin, and Olivia was glad to have at least figured out that this was how they must have been such close friends. Austin had a deep voice and a deep laugh, which always sounded strange to Olivia. He played the piano very well and people would often gather during certain times to hear him play.

However, despite knowing such wonderful people, Olivia noticed that everyone was always slightly on edge. Of course, she didn't know why, but she did know it had to be for a good reason. But then she realized _she_ was always slightly on edge herself, and this was because of her general life that she lived out every single day. Nothing changed, it was always the same rigmarole.

Olivia Lockett, her father, Marlin McDouglas and Austin Oscar and everyone else all lived underground, in a vast expanse of bunkers and small closed-in markets that were connected via narrow tunnels and bridges over certain gaps within the rock and dirt. Almost all of the material used to craft the buildings down here were various metals, stone and even the rock and dirt that was hammered and hauled out of its place against the walls of this frighteningly dark underground. Marlin said that they lived in a '_chasm_', though he sometimes called it a '_cave_' or even a '_catacomb_'. Olivia did not know what these words meant, and just nodded in pretend understanding when he spoke about it. The furniture within the buildings looked much, much different from the exterior, however. Chairs were carved out of smooth wood and blanketed with a soft red material. Tables and couches were exquisite and expensive looking, but Olivia also never questioned the major difference between certain furnishings and decorations. Her father had once told her not to ask about it, and she had done just that.

Olivia and everyone else were used to the darkness of this underground chasm, or cave, or catacomb. A lot of the older people talked about how sickening the lights were, the small glass bulbs which illuminated small spaces in a strange orange glow. Olivia had once heard one of the old ladies talking about how beautiful a sunset would have been several years ago. Olivia didn't know what a sunset was, and she didn't ask about it. An even older man once boasted about inhaling deeply and smelling fresh air rather than the damp and musty smells of the underground city. Still, Olivia hadn't the foggiest idea of what they were talking about, and so continued to keep to herself.

But one sentence was stuck in her mind. It was almost burned into her very skull, the exact words etched across the off-white bone to forever remind her of the confusion and random desire she had felt when they were spoken. They were spoken by one of her father's soldiers, the tall one who had arrogantly pushed past her earlier. He had said, "_I remember when people could go outside and not fear the world - do you remember before the war, Alfred?_". Olivia knew he was speaking to her father, Alfred, though his name always sounded odd when she spoke it herself, though she rarely did such a thing. But this sentence confused her. Was was this '_outside_' he spoke of? What was this '_war_'? What was he remembering so well that made him speak so fondly to her father?

Olivia cursed her curiosity getting the better of her as she bumped straight into someone. She hissed under her breath and looked up. How convenient. It was the soldier who's sentence had been embedded in her mind. Even after seeing him around the underground city, which everyone called '_Old America_', for several years, Olivia still did not know his name or anything else about him. All she knew was that he was tall, blonde, blue-eyed and very intimidating when he had to be. Purely because of him being her father's lieutenant, she forced herself to utter an apology, but nothing came out. Her mouth simply moved. Open and close, open and close. She was sure she looked like a fish.

"My apologies for earlier, about your shoulder. Are you looking for Marlin, Miss Lockett?"

Olivia swallowed. He had never acknowledged her with a name before. He always motioned towards her, nodded in her direction, or called her '_that girl over there_', or '_your daughter_' to her father. Being called Miss Lockett sounded very strange indeed, but she nodded hastily and stepped sideways, ready to rush away from him. The soldier, the lieutenant, the tall man gave her a quick smile. Olivia wasn't sure whether he was trying to intimidate her further or if was genuinely smiling at her. He pointed a gloved finger to her left, where two tunnel mouths stood gaping behind one of the small market plazas.

"He's with in Samuel's bar, down the right tunnel."

He was giving Olivia directions like she had never visited this place before. Still, she nodded silently and hurried away, the sharp thudding of her boots on brown stone echoing around her. Even as she headed into the right tunnel, thankful for the candles placed on the floor despite being used to the dark, she could feel the lieutenant's sapphire gaze burning into her back. She walked quickly down the tunnel, soon engulfed by shadows. She wasn't sure what she would do when she reached Samuel's bar. Samuel was a friend of Marlin's too, and he looked a lot like Austin. Marlin always said they were related to annoy Samuel, though they both knew he meant well.  
Olivia considered asking Marlin about the sentence that lieutenant had said long ago. She wondered if the smart Marlin would know, unlike her, and if he would explain what this '_outside_' was and what this '_war_' was. Olivia knew without a doubt she was pretty stupid, not knowing over half the words thrown at her, though she knew she could always rely on Marlin to aid her.

She would ask Marlin McDouglas what these things were. Even if he didn't know, she was sure _somebody_ would tell her.


End file.
